Radish

Radishes are everywhere!

The Sparkler White Tips take about 4 weeks to harvest, and the Cherry Belle just 22 days, so repeated plantings are necessary if one wishes to have a constant supply. I have planted Sparklers in all the bigger plant pots (tomato, zucchini, gourd) as well as in the empty spot in the wine barrel, and Cherries in the Radish Bin. I won't be re-planting the bigger plant pots... by then the squash shall be producing shade.



Radish Bin: Every wednesday, I'm planting a tiny row of radishes... theoretically, every wednesday I will be able to harvest one row and replant it, giving me an average of one radish a day. I've begun staggering the rows in a zig-zag, as this allows space for 2 more radishes. I'll expect to be clipping leaves here and there for salad additions when the mood strikes.

Radish Bin 5/1/09 (Middle planted first, then far right, then left)
The middle should've been ready to harvest 2 weeks ago but they're not even bulbing... maybe I'm planting them too close together!

Here is a tiny sprout! It's about half an inch wide, and deceptively cute.

These are some Sparklers at 26 days in the wine barrel, 2-3 inches wide... definitely nowhere near harvest time (expected at 20-30 days), and it hasn't bulbed at all under the soil. Temperatures have been super chilly up until a few days ago and growth has suddenly spurted, so I'm assuming that they've been so slow due to autumn chill.

5/16/09: My gosh, look how they've grown! This is the bin of cherry belles, but the sparkler white tips in the wine barrel are much larger (with sharp spines).

5/16/09: Wormie does a good job of protecting cherry belle radishes. They just suddenly started popping up out of the ground begging to be eaten.


We plucked our first 2 radishes to eat! These sparkler white tips have leaves with tons of sharp spines and prickly hairs... not really pleasantly edible. The larger one on the left was extremely hot, whereas the one on the right was mild and very juicy... must just be the size difference 'cause they were neighbors in the wine barrel.
(The bird in the background is a leather hair pin, oops). 5/14/09